Forbes Says CEOs Are Looking for Your Website

“A CEO needs to locate information on a competitor, business partner, a customer trend, or a news development. What does he or she do?”

That’s the question Forbes Insights and Google recently asked 354 top executives at large U.S. companies (sales greater than $1 billion). The result of their research, the 23-page report “Rise of the Digital C-Suite,” shows that the Internet has become the chief source of business information for U.S. executives. What does this mean for your company?

The report outlines two key findings you need to know:

1. The Internet is the top resource for information for CEOs

Forbes ranked the following sources of information that U.S. senior-level executives found valuable:

Source

% said source was valuable

Internet

74%

At-work contacts

51%

Other contacts

43%

Trade publications

37%

Personal networks

36%

Consultants

27%

Newspapers

25%

TV

24%

Conferences/trade shows

19%

Magazines (print)

19%

Radio

14%

An astonishing 74% of CEOs find the Internet to be a very valuable source of business intelligence – ranking well ahead of personal networks, trade publications, and print media such as newspapers and magazines.

Would a CEO consider your website to be a valuable resource?

2. Execs turn to search engines first for their information

Forbes asked these executives which sources of information they found valuable:

Source

% said was very valuable

General search engine

63%

Advice from colleagues

40%

Subscription search engine

34%

Advice from personal network

29%

Advice from consultants/analysts

22%

Advice from online communities

22%

It turns out the top-level executives are just like the rest of us; when they want to find something online, they turn to Google, Yahoo, or Bing. But as Forbes explains, “What does stand out, however, is the value executives place on search and how deeply it has become ingrained in day-to-day corporate activities.

Can executives easily find your website on the major search engines?

Other points to know:

· Six out of ten executives conduct more than six Internet searches each day